President Barack Obama pounded Republicans Saturday for policies that fueled the U.S. economic crisis, while welcoming a Senate deal on his stimulus bill that ideologically split lawmakers hope to finish by mid-month.

Obama said quick action on the package was imperative to avoid catastrophe and praised the group of moderate senators from both political parties for coming up with a compromise.

Senate Democrats agreed late Friday to trim spending proposals and support tax cuts in a roughly $800 billion bill.

(ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW)

[2]

They rolled back an earlier $937 billion proposal by culling what critics, mostly Republicans, called billions of dollars in unwarranted spending.

Nancy Pelosi, speaker of the House, predicted there would be a finished product by Feb. 16. A Senate vote is scheduled for Tuesday, one day after Obama gives his first full news conference as president.